


the small hours

by pterawaters



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual Steve Harrington, Comfort, Future Fic, Illnesses, Mildly Dubious Consent, Multi, Phone Calls & Telephones, Sex Pollen, Threesome, Unsafe Sex, Upside Down Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:02:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23875882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: When Steve receives a phone call in the middle of the night, it's been five years since he last saw Nancy Wheeler. In that time she'd gone and married Jonathan Byers. Still, when she calls him, urgently needing help, Steve can't help but go to her.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
Comments: 13
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for day 2 of [Stoncy Week 2020](https://stoncyweek2020.tumblr.com/), for the "I called you at 2 am because I need you" prompt. I will post chapter 2 tomorrow, for the "Taking care of the other(s) when sick or injured" prompt!
> 
> Please mind the tags!

When his phone rang at stupid o’clock in the morning, just a couple hours after he’d finally fallen asleep, Steve cursed at it. Then he sighed, realizing that it could be dispatch, and reached out to pick it up. He put the phone to his ear and said, “I just worked my fifth 12-hour shift in a row. If this isn’t life or death, please go away.”

“Steve?” The voice on the other end of the line was devastatingly familiar.

“Nancy? What’s going on?”

“I'm so glad you’re still in Chicago, at this number,” she said with a relieved sigh, and there was a tinge of panic in her voice. 

“Y-yeah, I'm here,” he replied, sitting up in bed and turning on the bedside lamp. “Where are you?”

"Jonathan and I have hunkered down in a motel in Joliet for the night." 

There was something very loud that Nancy wasn't saying.

Sighing, Steve said, "Just spit it out, Nance. Why are you calling? Are you in danger? Do you need help?"

"I…" Steve heard Jonathan in the background, groaning in pain. "Y-yeah. We need help."

Licking his lips and rubbing his forehead, Steve asked, "Should I bring Max? She's still in med school, but she's getting really good at stitches. I'm sure Lucas would come with too."

"No!" Nancy said. "Don't bring anyone else." Then she took a sharp breath before asking in a tight voice, "Are you…? Shit, I didn't even think… Maybe I should call someone else."

"Just tell me, Nancy," Steve said, holding the phone with his shoulder as he got up and started pulling clothes out of his dresser.

Nancy groaned, and she sounded in pain. 

Freezing at the sound, Steve asked, "Shit, it's you too? What happened to you guys?"

"I don't know exactly," Nancy said, panting. "Are you alone? I mean, are you seeing anyone?"

"No, no, I'm not." He wondered if she'd called just to rub his face in the fact. "What does that matter?"

"You'll see when you get here," she replied. "Are you ready to take down the address?"

Steve grabbed an eyeliner pencil Louisa had left behind on his dresser when she'd gathered all her things six months ago. Somehow he still hadn't thrown it out. Holding the pencil over the back of his left hand, Steve said, "Yeah, I'm ready."

Nancy gave him the street address and room number, then said, "Hurry!"

"Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can," he told her, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples with his fingers. "Hang in there. Don't die before I get there."

Still breathing hard, she said, "We'll try our best."

After hanging up with Nancy, Steve remembered the shift he was scheduled for the following afternoon. If past events held true when it came to the weird shit Nancy and Jonathan were always involved in, there was no way he was clocking in on time. With a sigh, he called dispatch, claiming a stomach virus and asking them to find someone else to cover for him.

When he got to the motel in Joliet, it was nearly three in the morning and fucking freezing out. He parked and hurried to the right door, knocking quietly on it. The door opened and Steve was dragged inside by the front of his coat. Only as the door was closing again did Steve recognize that it was Jonathan who'd pulled him in. 

Jonathan's hair was wet and he was only wearing a damp t-shirt and boxers. "Took you long enough," he muttered, unzipping Steve's coat and manhandling him out of it.

"Hey, hey!" Steve protested, ultimately letting Jonathan take his coat. "What the hell is going on? Where's Nancy?"

"She's in the shower, cooling off. It helps, but only for a few minutes," Jonathan said, throwing Steve's coat on the chair in the corner. He took half a step toward Steve again, but Steve held out a hand, stopping him.

"How 'bout you tell me what the hell is going on," Steve said, watching the way Jonathan took quick, heaving breaths like he'd just been running. "What's wrong with you?"

"We were hunting something in the corn fields outside of town," he said, taking another step toward Steve. "It sprayed us with some sort of dust and got away. We washed it off, but…" He frowned at the bathroom door, wrapping his arms around himself. "It was too late. We must have breathed it in."

"Why aren't you in the hospital?" Steve asked, taking a step closer to Jonathan and putting the back of his hand on Jonathan's forehead. "Geez, you're burning up. Are you having trouble breathing?"

Jonathan shook his head. "No, it's… It's definitely something from the Upside Down. Nothing the doctors here would know how to…" He shuddered, bending over and groaning like he was in pain. "God, it hurts!"

"Jesus, Byers," Steve said, taking him by the elbows and directing him over to the bed. "Sit down. Don't die while I check on Nancy, okay?"

Jonathan nodded and sighed.

Steve knocked on the bathroom door, calling, "Nancy? Are you still alive in there?"

The water turned off and Nancy's voice called out, "Steve?"

"Yeah, it's me. I'm here."

"Oh, thank god," she said as she opened the door, still naked and dripping. Before Steve could properly process the fact that she _was_ naked, Nancy grabbed him, pulling him down into a kiss.

Steve put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away. "Jesus, Nancy. What the fuck?"

Nancy wrapped her hand around Steve's wrist and hauled him closer to the bed, where Jonathan was still sitting hunched over. "You didn't explain it to him?"

"I tried," Jonathan said, "but – ah!" He fell over onto his side, curled up in the fetal position.

Dropping Steve's wrist, Nancy went to Jonathan, pressing her hand to his forehead. "You're too hot. Why are you even wearing clothes?" Nancy pulled at Jonathan's shirt, taking it off him.

"Didn't want to freak Steve out," Jonathan told her, and then Nancy was taking Jonathan's boxers. And, yeah, there was Jonathan's dick, standing straight and almost purple-looking.

"Well, I'm freaked out _now_ ," Steve told them. "How does getting dosed by some sort of alien poison lead to _this_?"

Sighing, her hand folded in Jonathan's, Nancy said, "After we got back and washed that stuff off, we…" She looked at Jonathan and shrugged. "We thought it was just the thrill of surviving the hunt. Afterward we felt a lot better."

"After what?" Steve asked, pretty sure he knew the answer.

"Sex, Steve," Nancy said, confirming his suspicion. "But then it came back and we haven't been able to…"

Pointing at Jonathan's obvious hard on, Steve said, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could go at it like this. So, what's the problem? Why am I here?"

Hissing in pain and digging her fingers into the bedsheets, Nancy curled in on herself like Jonathan had a minute before.

Jonathan held Nancy's hand and rubbed her back. Then he said to Steve, "Every time we try, on or the other of us gets these pains. We can't…"

"We can't get each other, or ourselves, off," Nancy said through clenched teeth. "And the pain is getting worse. We– ah!"

Jonathan looked over at Steve and said, "We know this is a weird thing to ask, but you're the only one we trusted enough to…"

"To what?" Steve asked, his face feeling bright red. "Fuck you?"

"Me, at least," Nancy said, sitting up, tears in her eyes. "The hope is that I'll be clear headed enough after to help Jonathan."

"We wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency," Jonathan added, still breathing quickly.

Giving a huge sigh, Steve said, "Yeah, alright.” Then he added, “Just for the record, this is the weirdest way to ask for a threesome."

Jonathan coughed and Nancy rolled her eyes. But then she stood up and took Steve by the hand, leading him back to the bed.

God damn it, he loved her. Steve was still in love with her, even all these years later. He had to, he needed to… "Can I kiss you?" he asked, before realizing he should probably ask Jonathan too. "Can I kiss her?"

Jonathan nodded and Steve couldn't help but watch him as Nancy pulled Steve into a kiss. The kiss was hot and wet, demanding the way he remembered Nancy had gotten near the end of their relationship in high school. Jonathan's face started out pained, and Steve was sure this was going to end badly. And soon. But after Nancy got Steve's sweatshirt and t-shirt off him, then unbuttoned his jeans, something about Jonathan's expression shifted.

Before Nancy got him all the way out of his underwear, Steve said, "Hey, lay down, okay?"

Nancy only did so as long as Steve followed her, laying on the bed too, so he was on the opposite side of Nancy from Jonathan. He kissed Nancy, running his hand down her fever-hot body and then between her legs. Steve found her already slick and swollen, and she gasped against his lips as Steve stroked his fingers gently through her folds and across her clit. Nancy groaned and demanded, "More!"

When Steve stole a glance over at Jonathan, the guy was watching them and stroking his own dick. When he noticed Steve watching him, he said, "Sorry. I'll stop."

"No," Steve said, shivering a little and hoping it didn't show. "Do what you gotta do."

Jonathan met Steve's eyes for a long few seconds – which felt charged, and not just because Steve was currently fingering Jonathan's wife – and then he nodded. Still watching, Jonathan laid back against the pillows and took himself in hand.

By this point, Nancy was making frustrated little noises, and Steve knew he was going to have to up the ante. He slid down the bed, giving Nancy plenty of time to kick him away if she wanted to, before he spread her legs and put his mouth on her pussy.

She tasted exactly the same as she always had, and that somehow struck him as unfair. Then he saw the way she winced in pain, squeezing Jonathan's free hand and breathing harshly. Steve tried to double his efforts, licking and sucking at her clit and pumping two of his fingers into her. After a moment, her cries of pain turned back into ones of pleasure.

Kicking at Steve with one of her heels, Nancy said, "Get up here! I need you…" She took a deep breath and swallowed. "Need you to fuck me. Come on!"

Replacing his mouth on her clit with his thumb, Steve asked, "Where's the condoms?"

Nancy met his eyes for a second before she threw her head back and groaned in frustration. "Shit!"

Looking back and forth between Nancy and Jonathan, Steve asked, "You guys don't use them?"

Jonathan shook his head. "She's on the pill."

Nancy all but screamed in frustration. "I just… I just need it! No place around here is gonna be open…"

Kissing the inside of Nancy's thigh, Steve told her, "You're the only one I ever… I mean, I always used them with everyone else."

Nancy looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "Good enough for me." She turned to Jonathan. "Good enough for you?"

"Only because it's an emergency," he muttered with a nod, before wincing in pain again, his hand going still.

Thinking that this was so dumb, and Robin was definitely going to yell at him for it if he told her later, Steve let Nancy pull him on top of her. Still remembering the angles of her body – unable to forget – Steve pushed into her in one fluid stroke.

Nancy cried out, and she was so hot it was almost painful. Still, Steve set a quick pace, finding the right angle on the second thrust. Nancy turned her head to the side, holding a pillow over her mouth as she screamed. Steve knew better than to stop. She was close, but she wasn't quite there, despite the screaming.

Then Nancy reached down between them, getting her fingers on her clit and rubbing furiously. The whole year they'd been together, Steve had never seen Nancy touch herself. He was so surprised he had to bite his cheek and think of something, anything, else. Before he could distract himself, Nancy shook for a good few seconds, and then stilled.

"Ohhh…"

She got so tight all of a sudden, and she was so hot and wet, that the simple act of pulling out felt good enough to drive Steve over the edge. He came into his hand, rather than all over Nancy, breathing heavily. He struggled to keep up on his knees and not fall over onto her.

When he could finally open his eyes again, Steve saw that Jonathan was looking at him, eyes dark and brow furrowed, hand still moving on his cock.

Not sure what that meant, if anything, Steve stumbled over to the sink and washed his hands. By the time he got back to the bed, Nancy was straddling Jonathan, riding his cock at a quick pace.

Deciding he deserved a show, Steve laid back on the bed and watched Nancy as she moved. Even with the damp hair and a mottled flush across her chest, she was beautiful. Jonathan was so lucky. Nancy loved him. She only called Steve when she needed something, or when the world was about to end.

They'd invited him to the wedding, six months back, but he'd decided not to go. It would have been too hard to see Nancy marrying someone else. He had no idea how he was going to recover from tonight. Steve wasn't even sure it was possible.

Jonathan was still making small noises, his head thrown back, long neck exposed, when Nancy cried out. She curled in on herself and fell to the side, clutching Steve's hand when he gave it to her.

Jonathan let out a cry of pain, and worry, but mostly frustration.

"How close were you?" Steve asked him, noting the way Jonathan clutched at Steve's shoulder, like he needed to touch someone.

"Close," Jonathan said with another frustrated groan.

He looked like he was in so much pain that Steve wasn't even surprised at himself when he offered, "Want me to suck you off?"

Jonathan looked at Steve like he'd grown an extra head, but as the pain came back, twisting his expression, Jonathan let out the breath he'd been holding and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

Steve had to get out of the bed and circle around, because Nancy was in the way. When he got over to Jonathan's side, he said, "Throw me a pillow for my knees and put your legs over the edge."

Jonathan followed directions, but he was frowning at Steve. Then he asked, "Have you…?"

"Oh, yeah," Steve told him, kneeling down and getting Jonathan's dick in his hand. Jesus, he was so hard. No wonder he was so frustrated. "I've done this a lot, so don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Steve sucked Jonathan's dick into his mouth, satisfied when he cried out sharply. His dick was a nice size and if the situation hadn't been so urgent, Steve might've wanted to see how deep he could go. As it was, he prioritized working his hand and mouth in concert, fast and tight enough to get Jonathan off.

It didn't take long before Jonathan sighed, "Oh, I'm gonna…"

Steve had never gotten to swallow before, having been so religious about using condoms, even for oral. Deciding to go for it, Steve swallowed again and again as he worked Jonathan through the entirety of his orgasm.

"Holy shit," Jonathan said, lying back flat against the mattress.

Nancy kissed Jonathan's shoulder, but she met Steve's eyes when she said, "That was so hot."

Yeah, Steve knew that look. She was almost ready to go again.

And, honestly, so was he. It had been a while since he and Louisa broke up, and there hadn't been anyone else in the meantime.

"Since when are you…?" Jonathan asked, still looking up at the ceiling. "You've done that a lot?"

"Yeah," Steve admitted, feeling his cheeks go hot. "I kinda had a boyfriend for a while during and after I was in Academy."

"How did we not know this?" Nancy asked as she and Jonathan scooted over, making room for Steve on that side of the bed.

"Brian didn't want to tell anyone," Steve explained. "That's mostly why we broke up. It wasn't fun being pushed aside or ignored every time we were in public."

Reaching over and putting her hand on Steve's elbow, Nancy asked, "Did you love him?"

"Nah," Steve said, shaking his head. "I mean, I liked him a lot, but I never fell in love with him. That hasn't happened since–" Steve cut himself short before he admitted too much. "Well, it hasn't happened for a long time."

"Oh," Nancy said, looking away from Steve like she knew he'd been talking about her. Then she doubled over in pain again. "Ah, fuck."

"Is all this even helping?" Steve asked as Nancy pulled Jonathan into a kiss, all but humping his leg.

As their kiss broke, Jonathan said, "I feel a lot better. Not sure how long it's gonna last, though."

"Yeah, if we're not careful," Steve said as he climbed over Jonathan to get behind Nancy, "you might have to let me fuck you."

Steve didn't miss the way Jonathan scoffed, like he was protesting too much. Steve was familiar with what it looked like when you were pretending you didn't want something. Or someone.

Pressing against Nancy's back, Steve held her close and kissed her neck. "Let's see if we can get one more out of you. Huh?"

"Yes. Let's," Nancy replied, pressing her ass back against him and tilting her neck so he could better kiss it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a night spent in a motel, trying to keep Nancy and Jonathan from dying, Steve brings them back to his apartment, to make sure they've recovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written for the [Stoncy Week 2020](https://stoncyweek2020.tumblr.com/) prompt, "Taking care of the other(s) when sick or injured."

“Okay, come on in,” Steve said, pushing open the door of his apartment. The late morning sun was bright in the kitchen window, so Steve didn’t bother turning on the lights. He gestured to the couch, saying, “You guys should sit down. Lemme see if I have some aspirin or something.”

Jonathan was the first to collapse down onto the couch. He was also the one who’d just driven his and Nancy’s car forty-five minutes from where they’d spent the night in Joliet. Nancy tiredly followed Steve to the kitchen.

“You don’t have to take care of us,” Nancy said. “We would’ve been fine in the motel.”

“Don’t be stubborn,” Steve told her, taking down a glass and filling it with water before handing it to her. “You called me for help last night. I’m helping. End of story.”

Nancy sighed, but she also nodded and took the glass of water. Finding some ibuprofen in the cabinet, Steve handed that to her, too. After filling another water glass for Jonathan, Steve set it on the coffee table and then went in search of some extra blankets. 

When he came back into the living room, Nancy was making Jonathan take some of the pills. She said to Steve, “Your place is really nice. I can’t believe we haven’t seen it before now.”

Steve didn’t point out that it had been about five years since she’d last seen him at all, much less his apartment. Instead, he just said, “Thanks. My last girlfriend decorated it, so it’s whatever, but it’s pretty close to work. Has enough space for just me.”

Wrapping a blanket around herself, Nancy gave Jonathan a look. Then she said, “We’ve been talking about settling down somewhere. Getting a place.”

“Yeah?” Steve asked, sitting down in his armchair and leaning back, rubbing at his sore shoulder muscle. “You about done almost getting killed all the time?”

The two of them shared another look, before Jonathan said, “Yeah, about. The thing that attacked us yesterday was the last one that we know of. The last remnant of the Upside Down.”

“Oh, jeez,” Steve said with a smile. “You’re gonna have to get real jobs.”

Nancy chuckled and shook her head, looking away from him and around at the apartment. “How’s the pay being a cop?”

Shrugging, Steve told her, “Could be better, could be worse.” He noticed Nancy shivering. “Do you need more blankets?”

She shrugged. “It’s just the fever. I’ll be okay.”

“We hope,” Jonathan said, pulling Nancy closer to him. “The symptoms last night were weird enough. They might come back, like the fever has.”

“Well, lucky for you guys,” Steve said, putting his hands behind his head, “I don’t have to work until the day after tomorrow. I can spend all night taking care of you.”

Steve noticed Jonathan shiver, and by the way his face went red and he looked away, he guessed it had less to do with the fever and more to do with what had happened the night before.

Deciding to move past that for now, Steve asked, "When was the last time either of you ate?"

Nancy looked at Jonathan, saying, "Yesterday, lunch?"

Jonathan nodded, "Yeah. I'm not really hungry."

"Too bad," Steve said, standing up and heading back into the kitchen. "Everyone good with pancakes?"

Neither one of them said no, so Steve said, "Okay, good."

By the time Steve finished making a batch from the mix in his pantry, both of them had passed out on the couch. Since they were dealing with a weird poison from the Upside Down, Steve went over there and made sure they were both breathing, which they were.

Then he ate a couple of the pancakes, put the rest in the fridge, and sat down in his armchair, reclining it and closing his eyes, just for a minute. 

When he woke up, Jonathan was naked and in his lap, kissing him and getting Steve's cock out of his pants. Shit, the pains must have come back. Steve put his hands on Jonathan's back, touching all that warm skin, and shivering at the feeling. Oh, God. He wanted this _so much_. Steve grabbed Jonathan by the hips and pushed up into him, finding him hot and already slick. 

"Oh, fuck," Steve murmured against Jonathan's lips. "You feel so good, babe. God, look at you taking it. You love this, don't you?" Jonathan kissed him and took Steve's hand, wrapping it around his cock. Smiling, Steve murmured, "Need me to fuck you silly, babe? Like last night? Need–"

A sharp pain ripped through Steve's body, starting low in his belly and zapping up into his chest, making him curl in on himself and wake up. Again. 

Steve was still sitting in his recliner, and Jonathan was still clothed, sleeping over on the couch with Nancy on his chest. 

Shit, it was just a stupid dream. 

Except Steve had an aching hard on and another one of those pains ripped through him. He groaned and breathed his way through it, and then he was rolling out of his chair and crawling across the floor to the couch. 

"Guys," he said, biting back another groan, and shaking Nancy gently to try to wake her up. Wake _them_ up. "Guys, I think… I think it's…"

Nancy opened her eyes, frowning at him for a second before she seemed to recognize what she was looking at. 

"You gave it to me," he told her, grasping her hand. "I'm… Jesus, fuck. This hurts _so much_."

"Oh, shit," Nancy said, sitting up. At least she looked a little more clear-eyed than before. She put her hand on Steve's forehead. "Shit, shit. You're burning up. Oh, Steve. I'm so sorry!"

"He's…?" Jonathan asked, putting his hand on Steve's forehead, too. 

Speaking through clenched teeth, Steve told them, "That's not where I need you to touch me. _Please_."

"We did this to him," Nancy said, sharing a look with Jonathan. "We have to help him."

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah. We do."

"Okay, good. Let's– ah! _Motherfucker_ ," Steve swore under his breath as the pain got the better of him. 

Nancy pulled on Jonathan, saying, "Let's put him up on the couch.”

Jonathan got out of the way, and then all three of them worked together to get Steve up onto the couch. He took his sweatshirt and t-shirt off, and then lied down on his back, lifting his hips so Nancy could get his pants and underwear down. 

It was only a few seconds later when Nancy put her mouth on him. He muttered a curse and clutched at the upholstery of the couch, tilting his head back and trying not to move too much. Because moving too much might make her stop and he couldn’t stand the thought of Nancy stopping. 

Jonathan was close to Steve’s arm, petting his hair and watching Nancy. That wouldn’t do. After the next pain ripped through him, Steve grabbed Jonathan by the front of his sweater and pulled him close enough to kiss. Steve half expected Jonathan to push him away, but he didn’t. And when Steve licked Jonathan’s tongue, he returned that kiss as well. 

So it turned out that having his dick sucked while also making out with someone really did it for Steve. He got really close before the next pain tore through him. He did his best to stay still, and the way Jonathan pet his hair and kissed his neck helped. 

Nancy stopped, and Steve was about to complain about that fact, when she climbed up onto the couch and sank down onto his cock. 

“Oh, fuck,” Steve murmured, putting his hand on her hip. It wasn’t just like his dream, because it was Nancy instead of Jonathan, but it still felt really good. Nancy was hot and wet and soft around him, moving just right, like she remembered how he liked it. 

Steve tilted his head, resting against Jonathan’s chest and murmuring, “You’re so fucking lucky, man. This feels incredible.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jonathan told him. Then he kissed Steve again, hard and slow, his hand on Steve’s chest, thumb brushing over his nipple. Steve wondered what it would feel like if Jonathan fucked him. 

That was the thought that did him in. “Fuuuck,” he groaned, grabbing Nancy’s hips to hold her still as he came.

When the pleasure faded, so did the pain, leaving Steve wrung-out and exhausted. 

His hand on Steve's forehead, Jonathan said, "You're too hot. We should get you in a cool shower."

"Hey, I was supposed to be taking care of you guys," Steve muttered, letting Jonathan pull him up onto his feet. 

Nancy put her shoulders under Steve's other arm, then looked over at Jonathan and said, "I guess it's our turn to take care of you."

"Guess so." Steve let Jonathan go when he moved to get ahead of them and turn the shower on. "Hopefully we don't just keep passing this back and forth between us. End up fucking until we die."

"I'm so sorry," Nancy said again, looking up at Steve and putting her hand on his cheek. He thought for a second she was going to kiss him, but she didn't. "I'm sorry we dragged you into this."

"Well," Steve said, giving her a nonchalant sort of shrug. "Wasn't all bad. Ended my six-month dry streak."

Nancy laughed, and then Jonathan was gripping Steve's hand, leading him to the shower and helping him step over the edge of the tub. "There you go."

"Thanks," Steve said before stepping into the lukewarm shower. The water felt nice against his overheated skin, and the lingering pain seemed to ease. He thought he heard Nancy and Jonathan talking, and he wasn't sure if they were talking to him. He leaned to look around the shower curtain and saw they were facing away from him, leaning close together as they spoke. 

Nancy was wearing one of Steve's shirts, and the sight made Steve's chest hurt. It wasn't the Upside Down poison or virus or whatever it was causing the pain this time. It was the knowledge that eventually they were going to leave again. Steve looked away.

Eventually, Nancy and Jonathan got Steve out of the shower and into his bed. "Hey, don't go," he said, holding onto one of Nancy's hands and one of Jonathan's. Whispering, he asked, "Please?"

They shared a look, and then Nancy said, "I'm going to get you some of that ibuprofen. I'll be right back."

Steve pouted, but his expression faded when Jonathan got into bed with him. He was still wearing his clothes, but he scooted close, pulling Steve's back against his chest. "Is this okay?"

"Yeah," Steve told him, putting his hand over Jonathan's arm across his chest. "Yeah, it's good."

Nancy came back and gave Steve some pills, then lied down on Steve's other side. She held Steve's hand and closed her eyes. Steve thought she'd fallen asleep, but then she said, "We've been talking about staying here in Chicago for a while. Would that… Would it be okay with you?"

"Depends," Steve told her, smiling when she frowned and opened her eyes.

"Depends on what?" Nancy asked him.

He winced when the pain came back, but he told Nancy, "Depends on whether or not you're going to torture me with things I can't have."

Behind him, Jonathan asked, "What if you could have them?" He pressed his face to the back of Steve's neck, his breath warm against Steve's shower-cooled skin.

Confused about what Jonathan meant by that, Steve gave Nancy a questioning look. She smiled, squeezed his hand again, and nodded. Then she whispered, "Yes, last night was an emergency, but…" She gave a self-conscious little shrug. "But it was good, wasn't it? Really good?"

Steve nodded, he could feel the pain coming back, but it didn't matter. Not when this was more important than a momentary pain. "Really good," he agreed. "If I– I _could_ have that, you guys sticking around for a while wouldn't be the worst thing. We could at least give it a try."

Jonathan hugged Steve tighter and Nancy kissed him before saying, "Yeah, it's worth a try."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I will post chapter 2 tomorrow, bright and early!
> 
> I'd love to hear what you thought of the fic in a comment below! You can also find me on [tumblr](https://pterawaters.tumblr.com/) or [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/pterawaters) or in my [stoncy discord server](https://discord.gg/ShMhY8z) if you'd like to chat! If you'd like to recommend this fic, please consider reblogging [this post](https://pterawaters.tumblr.com/post/616562510875738112/the-small-hours-on-ao3-when-steve-receives-a).


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